The Gatsby and Snipcart e-commerce starter is a boilerplate for building a static e-commerce shop on Gatsby, with Snipcart providing the shopping cart and checkout and product data stored as markdown files. It is created by Issy Dennis and distributed through GitHub under the repository issydennis/gatsby-snipcart, intended to be cloned and customized.
What is the Gatsby and Snipcart starter?
The starter pairs the Gatsby static site generator with Snipcart's embeddable e-commerce cart to create a shop that can be hosted anywhere static files are served. It takes markdown item files from a content/items folder and generates product pages at build time, while Snipcart handles cart logic, checkout, and payment. The project uses styled-components for styling, with a theme file and a global style reset. It runs on Gatsby's build tooling and requires a Snipcart public API key in gatsby-config.js to connect the frontend to Snipcart's test or live environment.
Key features
- Snipcart integration — Snipcart provides an out-of-the-box shopping cart and checkout that works with static sites; the starter includes comments explaining how to configure it.
- Markdown-based products — Each item in
content/itemsis a folder with anindex.mdfile and an image; editing these markdown files updates the shop's catalog. - Programmatic product pages — A template at
src/templates/item.jsgenerates individual item pages from the markdown data at build time. - Styled-components theming — Colors and global reset are defined in
src/styles/theme.jsandsrc/styles/globalStyle.js, letting you change the site's color scheme by editing one file. - Starter layout —
src/components/layout.jsprovides a base layout applied to all pages, andsrc/pages/index.jsis the shop's homepage. - Netlify deployment — A one-click deploy button is provided to launch the starter on Netlify directly from the GitHub repository.
Who should use this starter?
- Developers new to e-commerce who want a working Gatsby storefront with real cart and checkout without building payment integration from scratch.
- Freelancers and small agencies building lightweight storefronts for clients who need a small catalog and prefer a static site over a full CMS.
- Static-site fans already comfortable with Gatsby and markdown who want to experiment with Snipcart's test environment, which allows fake transactions to test the shop end to end.
What can you do with it?
- Launch a test shop quickly: Follow the quick start, insert your Snipcart test API key, and run
gatsby developto see a working storefront at localhost:8000 with fake checkout transactions. - Add products by editing markdown: Duplicate an existing item folder in
content/items, replace the markdown metadata and image, and the product appears on the generated item pages. - Rebrand the shop: Change the three colors in
src/styles/theme.jsto apply a new color scheme across the whole site, or remove styled-components entirely and use your own CSS approach.
How does the starter work?
To get started, you create a new Gatsby site using the starter, then create a Snipcart account to obtain a test public API key. After installing dependencies and running gatsby develop, you paste your API key into gatsby-config.js; the site builds product pages from the markdown files in content/items and Snipcart takes over the cart and checkout when a buyer clicks a product.
FAQ
Is Snipcart free to test?
Yes — when using Snipcart's test environment, everything is free and fake transactions can be made to test all aspects of your shop. You get a test public API key from your dashboard to use in gatsby-config.js.
Do I need a server to run the checkout?
No. Snipcart is designed for static sites; the cart and checkout run through Snipcart's service, so the Gatsby site itself is just static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that includes the Snipcart script and your product definitions.
Can I use the starter without styled-components?
Yes. The instructions say you can remove all references to styled-components and use your own method of applying styles and CSS.
Does the starter include a blog?
No. Despite being created with gatsby new copying a blog starter URL, this starter is specifically for a shop; the only pages mentioned are the homepage, generated item pages, and a shared layout.
